Went down a rabbit hole looking for cross-industry innovations (AKA one industry borrowing from another).

Found some good ones

1/ James Dyson created the Dyson vacuum design after seeing how sawmills use cyclone force to eject sawdust.

2/ The OG example: Henry Ford's car assembly line borrowed innovations from 3 industries:

• Watch (interchangeable parts)
• Canning (continuous flow manufacturing)
• Meatpacking (Ford reversed the "disassembly" part of the meatpacking process - AKA chopping up cows)

3/ BMW created its iDrive system -- a way to safely manage your control panel (e.g., keep your eyes on the road while driving) -- by borrowing from video game controllers.

4/ Owen Maclaren created the first foldable baby stroller (AKA lightweight baby buggy or pram) by borrowing the design of an airplane's landing gear.

As a former aeronautical engineer, he understood the mechanics of lightweight, collapsible structures.

5/ In the mid-90s, a Children's Hospital in the UK improved its ICU hand-off process by consulting with the Ferrari F1 pit crew team.

The hospital recorded its surgery room operation and the F1 suggested a new protocol: the error rate dropped from 30% to 10%.

6/ Baby incubator

In late 1800s, French doctor Etienne Tarnier was looking for a solution to save babies born prematurely.

On a visit to the Paris zoo, he saw poultry incubators and borrowed that innovation to make a baby incubator.

7/ Soda bottling plants

The rotary milking parlour was invented in the 1930s. It was the most efficient way to milk cows.

Soda bottling plants have a similar set up

(*I'm not actually sure the direction of the borrowing here...feel free to @ me).

8/ 3M created a product that prevents post-surgery facial infections by consulting theatrical make-up artists.

9/ An escalator company borrowed techniques from the mining industry to install escalators in shopping malls.

10/ A hospital in the Netherlands (Amphia) improved operations and patient service by borrowing the airport control tower concept.

Specifically, Amphia has its own Hospital Control Center to route medical procedures.

11/ After WWI, Kotex created disposable female sanitary napkins based on surgical field dressings used in battle.

(There was a post-war abundance of cellucotton, absorbent fibrous material created to make up for cotton shortfalls during WWI).

12/ Pharma company GSK borrowed innovations from McLaren racing team:

• Telemetry and sensor analysis used for race cars to monitor stroke victims
• Pit crew methods to improve the handover of toothpaste production from 2 different brands: Sensodyne to AcquaFresh

13/ For more wild internet rabbit holes, smash that FOLLOW: @TrungTPhan

Here's one you might enjoy: https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan/status/1334545044187959299?s=20

14/ Sources:

UK Children's Hospital: http://asq.org/healthcare-use/why-quality/great-ormond-street-hospital.html

McLaren GSK: https://www.mclaren.com/group/case-studies/case-study-gsk/

3M + Elevator: https://hbr.org/2014/11/sometimes-the-best-ideas-come-from-outside-your-industry

Dyson Sawmill: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/may/24/interview-james-dyson-vacuum-cleaner

15/ The mathematics of auto tune used by musicians came from the oil and gas industry.

(h/t @rishmishra) https://boingboing.net/2021/01/08/how-the-oil-industry-accidentally-created-autotune.html

16/ Different kind of innovation here.

Look at the similar profiles between a B2 Bomber and a Peregrine Falcon:

17/ “Nike's Bill Bowerman with the waffle iron soles” — h/t @activerecall

18/ This cross-industry innovation would break the internet.

New Tesla Roadster to have rocket thrusters (via the “SpaceX option package”).